UAE forces free UK hostage in Yemen
Print Edition
Forces from the United Arab Emirates have rescued a British hostage held for more than a year by al-Qaida in Yemen, authorities in London and Abu Dhabi said yesterday.
A statement carried by the UAE鈥檚 official WAM news agency said 64-year-old Douglas Robert Semple, a petroleum engineer, had been kidnapped by al-Qaida in February 2014 in Yemen鈥檚 vast desert Hadramawt province.
It said UAE forces had freed Semple in a military operation and taken him to Yemen鈥檚 main southern city of Aden, from where he was flown to Abu Dhabi.
It provided no further details about the operation.
The Foreign Office in London confirmed that a British hostage in Yemen had been freed by UAE forces but did not identify him and also provided no further details.
鈥淚鈥檓 pleased to confirm that a British hostage held in Yemen has been extracted by UAE forces in a military intelligence operation,鈥 Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said in a statement released while he was in Tehran to reopen the British embassy.
Hammond added that the freed hostage was 鈥渟afe and well鈥 and that Britain was 鈥渧ery grateful for the assistance of the UAE.鈥
The statement carried by WAM said Semple had been met at the airport in Abu Dhabi by UAE officials and the British ambassador.
He was taken to hospital for health checks and spoke to his wife by telephone, it said. He was to leave for Britain following the medical checks.
WAM said Abu Dhabi鈥檚 Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahayan had telephoned British Prime Minister David Cameron on Saturday night to inform him of the operation.
Kidnapping has long been rife in Yemen, which has been wracked by conflict since March, when a Saudi-led coalition launched air strikes against Iran-backed Huthi rebels.
Yemeni loyalists are backed by countries including Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
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